Apparatus for winding yarn



Dec. 26, 1939.

J. w. lszla'ucmzle APPARATUS FOR WINDING YARN Filed July 31, 1956 2 Sheets-:Sheet 2 l'mrMm.; ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 26, 1939 UNI'rD STATI-:s-

PATENT orticaA APPARATUS FOB YARN James Washington Brucker, Utica, N. Y.. assignor to Skenandoa 'Rayon Corporation, Utica, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Appucaucn July 31, 193s, serial No. 93,607'

i Claim. (Cl. 242-43) lo also be applied to the winding of other kinds of yarn under proper circumstances. Although my description relates primarily to the formation or winding of yarn cone packages, the invention may also be applied, under proper conditions, to the winding of cops, tubes, bobbins or other yarnA packages in which 'the hereinafter described tail-end is desired.

Preparatory to weaving, warps vare often formed from yarn cones or other packages in a 0 magazine creel. In the following description I shall refer to yarn cone packages by way of illustration. A large number of cones of yarn,

sometimes several hundred, areA placed in the To avoid stopping the warper warper creel. when a cone is used up, there is a magazine adjacentb to each cone in use, containing a full cone. The end of the yarn in the fresh cone must be tied to the tail-end of the yarn which is being unwound. Accordingly, each cone is wound 30 with a tail-end of yarn for this purpose. The

tail-'end maybe suitably of the order of about a yard in length, or longer if desired.

Although the making of such tail-ends has long been common practice, it has, hitherto, had

to be done either by hand or by a complicated mechanical device, involving a number of moving parts, and which is expensive and easily gets out of order.

In the case of hand operation, the operator. in beginning to wind each yarn c'one, attaches the end of the yarn to be wound to theinside of the cone support (for example, a conical supporting tube of paper, papier-mch or cardboard) upon which the yarn is to be tvound,.by means of a sticker placed inside the base of the support. Then, placing'the cone support on the mandrel of the winding machine (which may also have a spindle upon which the mandrel is mounted), and while turning the support byhand or by the 50 machine,` the operator manually guides the thread (yarn) so thatseveral turns 'of yarn will be made around the 'bas'e'of the support, on that vpart of the support which-projects Vbelow the portion to be occupied by thefinished package of 4moving parts at all, during its operation.

furnish the desired tail-end, the thread is placed `in the traverse guide of the winding machine,

which is thenstarted andwinds the'yarn cone or other package in the usual manner.

An example of the complicated mechanical de- 5 vices of the prior art, heretofore suggested for this purpose, is found in Beckman Patent No. 1,966,159, granted July 10, 1934. A somewhat similar device, for winding a bunch'by means of a winding machine, is shown in the Quill 10 Patent No. v1,809,217, granted June 9, 1931. These and similar devices have, according to-my observation, been found to suffer from various disadvantages-among others, those of being both complicated and expensive, involving a u number of moving parts, and of getting easily out of order or adjustment. These and other disadvantages are overcome by my invention.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a simple and eiiicient device for the automatic formation of the desired tail-end .in a cone orother desired yarn package, without the necessity for any manual operation, other than threading, and without any additional moving parts at all. The device, inthe form of a 25 guide (and which, for convenience, I describe as a tail-end guide), may be attached to a standard winding machine, such as is ordinarily used for winding cones or other packages of rayon, or other yarn, and is non-breakable, automatic 'inoperation, and involves no additional When once properly attached to the machine, it does not require further adjustment, and. has the additional great advantagesof being very inexpensive a5 f to manufacture andto install.

Other objects of the-invention willl appear from the following description.

I shall now describe, by way of illustration, the

- ferred form -of my invention, andv being thebest form of the apparatus and process now known to me, in greater detail, in connection with the aci5 companying drawingain which: y

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of one unit of va cone'winding machine of well known type, showing my invention applied thereto,and with the tail-end being wound on the yarn cone 55 support: f

Figure 2 is a plan oview of the same portion of the "winding machine; with myff-invention applied thereto, showing the yarn afterit has been auto- 55 yarn.- When enough turns have been -made to matically released from the tail-end guide, and '55 screw I4.

is winding on the yarn cone support in the normal manner to form a cone package of yarn;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of the-machine,

showing the yarn cone package partly wound,

and illustrating the tail-end of yarn at the base thereof;

Figure 4 is a side elevation, partially broken away, of a portion of one .unit of a winding machine with my invention applied thereto, and showing a somewhat different means of mounting and supporting the tail-end guide; and

Figure 5 is an end view, partially broken away, of a portion of the machine as shown in Figure 4, as seen from the right-hand end of Figure 4, and showing the mounting of the tail-end guide as ilustrated in Figure 4.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail. I0 represents a paper, papier-mch or other yarn cone supportv of the usual type, for supporting a wound package or cone of yarn.

. It is placed upon the mandrel Il of the winding machine, which may, in turn, be mounted upon a spindle in a usual manner. The yarn strand I2 is led from the yarn cake, skein or the like (not shown, but located below the portion 25 of the machine illustrated in Figure l) from which the cone package is t`o be wound (in the case of rayon manufacture, preferably from the washed, purified and dried rayon yarn cake when that process is used), over the usual yarn bail I3, thence through the traversing guide I4, all in the usual manner, and to the yarn support III. According to my invention there is, however, interposed, between the traversing guide I4 and the yarn support I0, the tail-end guide I5 which I have invented and which, together with the process of employing the same, constitutes the present invention and the subject-matter of this application for Letters Patent.

In the drawings as so far described, it is to be understood that only a small portionof the winding machine is shown, and only one of a battery of winding units. A commercial machine may have a dozen or more winding units of this kind, all operating simultaneously, and a yarn 'package is wound on each unit of the machine. In such machines, as at present commercially manufactured, the spindles and mandrels are usually (but not necessarily) arranged in horizontal position, as shown in the drawings. The yarn cone supports. when mounted on their mandrels, may either project outwardly from the machine, in a horizontal plane, or may be arranged lengthwise of the machine, but also in a horizontal plane.' In either mounting, the axis of rotation of the y'arn support ordinarily lies in a horizontal plane, and the traverse guidel reciprocates substantially horizontally. The operator faces the side of the package, in the case of the end'toend mounting, and the small ends of the cones (in the vcase of a cone package) when the winding supports project from the machine side-by-side. By way of illustration, I shall, accordingly, describe the application of my invention to a commercial machine employing horizontal spindles, although the application of the invention is not necessarily conned thereto.

The tail-end guide generically designated by the reference character I5, comprises, in the preferred form or embodiment which I have shown by way oi' illustration, a base portion I6 mounted slidably-upon a bracket I1 by means of a set- The bracket itself, with attached guide, is mounted upon the carriage 26, upon which the bail I3 and .traversing guide I4 are also mounted. 'This carriage 26 (not shown in detail) is a usual part of such al standard winding machine, and moves bodily away from the yarn support as the yarn package grows in radius, all in the well-understood manner. The traversing guide I4 is provided with a latch or support 24, sliding transversely on the support 25 (Figures 4 and 5), and all mounted upon the carriage 25, all in the usual manner in such machines.

In initially installing the tail-end guide I5, its' distance from the yarn cone support I II may be correctly adjusted in the manner shown, to accomplish the result explained below. The bracket I'I may also be pivoted, as shown at I9, so that the position of the guide may be properly adjusted, thus giving, in eiect, a universal mounting for initial adjustment of the tail-end guide. When `once proprrly installed upon the winding machine, no further adjustment is, ordinarily, required.

At the outer end of the base portion I6 of the guide I5, it is bent to form the guide portion 20, which terminates in a hook 2l, over whichthe yarn may be threaded or hooked when the winding operation is begun. The shape of the under surface of the hook-portion of the guide is, preferably, of about the form shown, with an underface 22 of such form that the yarn may` readily slip out of the guide in the manner now to be described.

The, principle and operation of the device illustrated in the drawings is as follows: l

The end of the yarn I2, from the cake or other package which is to be rewound into a cone package on the cone support I0, is attached with a sticker to the inside of the, cone support Il,

and the support is placed on the usual mandrel- II, with its axis in a horizontal plane. The yarn is then threaded over the yarn bail I3, andA the machine is at rest, and the operator must be careful to see that this threading up of the machine is done at such a period of-its cycle of operation that, when the machine is started, the traversing guide I4 will rst move in a direction away from the base or larger end of the-cone support; that is, away from the tail-end guide I5. The machine is so constructed, in ordinary practice, in the embodiment here selected for illustration, that the mandrel II, with the cone support III carried thereby, makes approximately ilve revolutions (in the direction indicated by the arrows) for each movement of the traversing guide I4 from kend to end of its stroke and return. AHence, the machine being threaded up when the traversing guide I4 will travel away from the tail-end guide I5, when the machine is put in motion, there will be wound around the base of the cone support a tail-end of yarn, |2c consisting of not less than about 21/2 nor more than about 5 turns oi.' yarn, before the traversing guide I4 reaches -its innermost position,- that is, its position nearest the tail-end guide l5. Now, the relation and co-operation of the various parts of the apparatusis such, substantially as shown, that the rst time the traversing guide I4 reaches the end of its stroke near the tail-end guide, `itpasses above and almost,

f is wound and built up into the usual yarn result, whereuponv the yarn is thereafter traversed inthe usual manner, .by the guide Il. ailigd P50 age or cone, on the "cone support" I0.

In the preferred operation, the traversing" guide Il never reaches a position directly over the tailend guide I5. If it did, the yarn package would cover up the tail-end I2c first vwound on the support, an undesired result. Preferably, at the end of its stroke adjacent the tail-,end guide) I5, the traversing guide Il reaches a position about an eighth or three-sixteenths of an inch` away from the point at which the tail-end I 2c is wound onto the yarn support. Hence the yarn package dces`\ not overlap the tail-end; see Figure 3. The release of the'yarn from the tail-end guide is accomplished by reason of the fact that, in operation, the tail-end guide. I5 is,

tomatically disengaged from'the tail-end guide solely by the motion of the traversing guide, due

to the position and arrangement of the parts as described, and the'usual package is thereafter wound, without overlapping or covering up the tail-end previously wound on the base of the support.- The winding of the tail-end is thusA entirely automatic, yet no extra moving parts are required for its formation, the xed tail-end guide I5 being merely applied to an'existing winding machine of one of the well-known types.

There is nothing to break or get out of order or adjustment, and the device is simple and inexpensive to make and install. f

In Figure l the traversing guide Il, having been started to the left, or away from the base of the cone, when the winding of the 'tail-end began, is shown after it has travelled'to the end of its stroke and is moving to the right, toward the base `of the cone, as indicated by the arrow. When it reaches the right-hand end of its str e, the yarn I2^will be unhooked from the guide 5. At this stage of the winding, the tail-end, is still being wound, and the traverse winding of the yarn has noty yet begun. Although the thread itself isbeing traversed by the guide Il. the

^ yarn cone'windiig machine of released from the tailend guide.

on the cone support.

In Figure 2, the travers guide Il has passed the right-hand end ofiitss rokev and has again started to the left, away from the base of the cone, as indicated by the arrow. The yarn I2 has become unhooked from Vthe tail-end guide I5,

` and is beginning its traverse winding on the cone support I Il, in the normal manner. The

yarnis shown by the solid line where it is visible,

and is indicated by the dash line, at Iza, where it passes back of the cone support and cannot be seen. 'I'he dashed and dotted line I2b in Figure 2 indicates the former position of the yarn .(as in Figure l) before it became unhooked from the guide I5.

In AFigure 3 the normal traverse windingv of theyarn'l!` has progressed to a considerable extent, and the cone package is nearly 'finished The tail-end I 2c is plainly shown a't the right, wound around-the base of the cone support, but n ot covered up by the wound package.

In Figure 4 the tail-end is still being wound, as in Figure 1, 'and the yarn has not yet been In Figure 5 the tail-end is also being wound.

The method and. apparatus herein specifically illustrated and described` are the best embodiments of my invention now known to me, but it is to be understood that the invention is not' necessarily' or specifically limited thereto, but may be carried out in other ways, without departure from its spirit, within thescope of the following claim.

I. claim: I I I A tail-end guide adapted for attachment to a standard type, said guide comprising, in combination, amounting bracket provided,-adjacent one end, with ad- Justable means for attachment of the bracket to the winding machine, a yarn guiding member adjustably secured near the opposite end of said mountingbracket and including a portion adaptedto extend toward the base of the yarn cone support, and a yarn guiding'hook near the outer end of said guiding member and arranged at an angle adapted to engage and retain a yarn strand threaded over said hook, and thereafter to r'elease the yarn strand by appropriate motion of the traversing guide of the winding macline.

` guide' I5 prevents traverse windingv of the yarn v JAMES wAsHmG'roN BRU'CKER. 50' 

